December 20, 2007

 

CBOT Soy Review on Wednesday: Settles higher; consolidates prior losses

 

 

Chicago Board of Trade soybean futures ended higher Wednesday, recovering from Tuesday's declines and consolidating after the market failed to attract follow-through selling, analysts said.

 

January soybeans settled 9 1/4 cents higher at US$11.59 and March soybeans ended 9 1/4 cents higher at US$11.77 3/4. January soymeal settled US$1.20 higher at US$323.70 per short tonne. January soyoil finished 62 points higher at 46.83 cents per pound.

 

A quiet news front promoted the consolidative theme, with prices settling into a range, analysts added.

 

Overall activity was light, with bullish long-range fundamentals keeping prices underpinned, while overbought technical signals and traders' willingness to even up positions in the last full trading week of the year encouraged range-bound price action, a CBOT floor broker said.

 

Otherwise, futures had little fresh directives, with spillover support from sharp gains in wheat providing strength as well as the underlying theme of buying price breaks amid the market's longer term bullish outlooks, traders added.

 

The DTN Meteorlogix weather forecast said southern Brazil will be mainly dry Thursday through Saturday. Sunday, the chances of rain increase in southern states, and the likelihood of rain will increase across the southern region next week.

 

In Argentina, conditions have been mostly hot and dry. Those conditions will continue in the north, but southern areas are expected to be cooler. Some showers are possible in the north by Sunday, Meteorlogix reports.

 

On tap for Thursday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture is scheduled to release weekly export sales figures for the week ended Dec. 13 at 8:30 a.m. EST. Trade estimates put soybean export sales at 600,000 to 900,000 metric tonnes. Soymeal sales are projected in a range of 75,000 to 150,000 metric tonnes, with soyoil sales expected in a range from 10,000 to 25,000 tonnes. In pit trades, buyers and sellers were scattered among various commission houses, with speculative funds estimated buyers of 3,000 lots.

 

 

SOY PRODUCTS

 

Soy product futures ended higher, with soyoil the upside leader. Soyoil futures rallied to three-week highs, supported by technical buying, crude oil price strength, the unwinding of meal/oil spreads and bullish longer-range fundamental outlooks, analysts said.

 

Soymeal futures ended up with the rest of the complex, benefiting from a technical recovery from Tuesday's declines, with solid underlying demand supporting prices as well, analysts added. However, futures did lose ground to soyoil on spreads.

 

January oil share ended at 41.74% and the January crush ended at 68 cents.

 

In soymeal trades, buyers and sellers were scattered among various commission houses, with speculative funds estimated buyers of 1,000 lots.

 

In soyoil trades, buyers and sellers were scattered among various commission houses, with speculative funds estimated buyers of 2,000 lots.